It is a sign of the improvement in the state of Iraq. Buses that were once filled with Iraqis fleeing the war-torn state roll into Syria almost empty, and more Iraqis are finding their way home:
”Before,” said Ali Abbas, who runs Damascus Transport, “you would find large numbers of Iraqis headed out, with all their belongings. Most carried mattresses, blankets and pieces of furniture. Now the trend has turned: The Iraqis coming back are returning with their furniture and everything they can carry back.”
U.S. and Iraqi officials boast that the returning Iraqis are tangible proof that Baghdad’s security situation is improving.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said 7,000 families had returned to the capital.
Iraqi officials estimate that 46,000 Iraqis have returned to Iraq across the Syrian border, and government and some neighborhood leaders are pushing in television and newspaper interviews for residents to return.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that things are super nice in Baghdad. Not at all. But things are better in Baghdad, and along with the conditions in Syria, it is motivating people to return.
Marwa Sadiq, 21, with eight suitcases at her feet, said she might never have made the 12-hour bus ride if she’d been able to pay the bribe needed to fend off Syrian officials.
But her father, who had stayed in Baghdad when she fled to Syria, summoned her home when he began keeping his shop open all day, not just for a few hours. That, he decided, was a sign that things were safer.
Sadiq, who had fled Iraq 11 months ago after a large explosion near her home, said she had been unconvinced until she crossed the border and didn’t encounter any trouble on the road. ”There was a tentative hope that the security situation really is getting better, and that the return to Iraq was not a death sentence,” she said.
Coming into Baghdad was a sweet mixture of fear and what she called ‘the overwhelming happiness of being home again, of not being a stranger, a refugee, anymore, but a `family member.’ ”
”It’s the most beautiful feeling,” she said.
Mustafa Mohammed, 23, and his family had been in Damascus for 10 months after fleeing their home in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Jihad.
They decided to come home when neighbors told them it was safe.
”We heard that seven families on our street in Jihad are returning to their homes. They say the security in the neighborhood is better,” Mohammed said.
There is still violence in Baghdad. People still die, but the state of things is vastly improved. This is a great illustration of that change. Yet, Senate Democrats are more interested in securing defeat on Bush’s watch than they are in ending this conflict as quickly as possible. They have to know about this progress, they have to hear this news, but they still refuse to fund the military so they can complete the mission and come home victors. They cannot allow that to happen.
Think about how fragile this current situation is in Baghdad and then tell me that the Democrats are doing the right thing by stopping our forward progress, our march towards victory, by refusing to fund the military that has finally found the right strategy to win this war. I think you will find it hard to believe.
